


More Than Just Rivalry

by angiembabe



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22616437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angiembabe/pseuds/angiembabe
Summary: Yugi winning Battle City is still painful for Seto, Until he beats Yugi, his scars of defeat will remain. But when Mokuba gives him the bad news that Yugi and his friends have gone to Egypt to return the Millennium items, he experiences a terrible pain in his chest and fears that his chance to beat the Pharaoh is being taken away from him.Takes place after the end of Battle City, and is a sort of prequel to DSOD.
Relationships: Atem & Kaiba Seto, Atem & Mutou Yuugi, Kaiba Mokuba & Kaiba Seto, Mazaki Anzu | Tea Gardner/Mutou Yuugi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Loss

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a one shot, but it kept growing and growing so I have decided to spread it over three chapters. It takes place in the manga verse, and is set between the end of Battle City and the start of DSOD. Just in case anyone does not know. In the manga, Kaiba does not participate in memory world and he does not go with them to Egypt for the Ceremonial Duel. And why would he? He made it clear he's not interested, and after failing to win Battle City considers his part over. He goes back to working on various projects and running his company. But his ultimate goal, always remained - beat the Pharaoh in a duel.
> 
> Warning: There may be some moderate cursing, but other than that, there's nothing that could be seen as adult content.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to YuGiOh or any of the characters, but I do feel honoured that we are given permission to write our own stories about them.

The scars of Battle ran deep. From the day he liberated Yugi Mutou of his grandfather's Blue Eyes White Dragon card, only to be accused by him of stealing it, to the humiliation of Battle City, the wounds of defeat continued to sting and bleed.

He was Seto Kaiba; a man who feared no one and bowed to no one. Yet, here he was doubting his ability to ever beat Yugi Muto in a fair game of Duel Monsters.

But who exactly was this arrogant, yet irritatingly brilliant person Yugi became when he duelled?

He said he was once a Pharaoh who ruled over Egypt.

Claimed their rivalry was three thousand years old!

Seto always considered him delusional.

The Ishtar family were delusional too. Did Ishizu really think that a lump of old rock, with badly drawn images of himself and Yugi carved into it, was enough to persuade him to believe in this crap? If he had been able to gain access to the rock and run some tests on it he would have easily been able to prove it was a fake.

And then there were the visions he and Yugi had supposedly seen during their duel.

Determined to work out how they managed to hack his holographic technology in order to project 'false' images into his mind, Seto had his computer analyse those visions.

But every single time, his computer came up with the same answer: unexplained phenomenon.

It ate at his mind and haunted his dreams; waking him in the early hours feeling angry and agitated.

Could destiny have really brought them together once more; to duel over a three thousand year old grudge?

And were the three Egyptian God cards merely pawns in that grudge?

Or were they something more?

Like Marik had believed, Seto also thought that winning them was the key to becoming King. And since Yugi had managed to defeat Marik, win Battle City and get his hands on all three of them, defeating him to obtain the biggest prize of all, was now an even bigger priority.

However, Mokuba wanted him to let his obsession go. So, to distract himself, he decided to distance himself from Yugi and the dweeb squad.

The less contact he had with them, the less pain he would feel at being second best.

If he could not be the King of Games, then he would be King of Domino City instead. He would know everything that went on in this city and own just about everything worth owning. The people would worship him like a King.

Although Mokuba worried about his brother, he still liked his idea of them being King and Prince of Domino City, readily agreeing to help him build up his empire.

The plans for a space station that would be able to collect peoples brain waves and beam them into a virtual world were ambitious and expensive, even for Seto Kaiba, and Mokuba worried it may overstretch their finances.

Luckily there was no shortage of wealthy investors, all willing to hand over billions of dollars for the chance that they might be able to cheat death by downloading their minds into the computer, and live forever inside their chosen reality.

However, any hopes that his new project would help him forget about Yugi, for now at least, was not working and Seto found himself spending more and more time holed up in his duel laboratory analysing Yugi's duels.

He started loading various different decks used by the opponents Yugi had fought into the duel computer.

Imagining himself as Yugi, he ran different combinations of Yugi's decks and played those decks against the opponents.

He was starting to see a pattern in the way Yugi constructed his decks and used them. All it needed now was to load his own most powerful deck, based around Blue Eyes White Dragon, and battle it against the deck he had come to see as Yugi's most powerful.

What could go wrong?

"Computer! Load Yugi Muto. Version two simulation."

The computer complied and a very realistic holographic version of Yugi appeared on the duel platform, wearing the standard Domino boys uniform. However, Seto had styled him with the features and voice he associated with the other Yugi –the one he considered his true rival.

The duel started and was evenly matched and both were down to a thousand life points each.

Seto drew the card he was waiting for –Champions Vigilance. He set it face down.

But just at a crucial moment, the door flew open and Mokuba came barging in. "Hey! Seto! You in here?"

The interruption caused Seto to hesitate and miss the timing for him to activate the trap card that he believed would crush Yugi's Magician combo.

Yugi successfully activated his spell and summoned his most powerful mage back to the field. Seto's life points dropped to zero and he swore, shutting down the simulation before the computer could announce Yugi Muto as the winner.

"Nice greeting Big Bro!" Mokuba chuckled. "Anyway... Knew I would find you down here. Dinner is ready and I don't wanna eat alone again."

"I'm not hungry."

"Aww, come on Seto. Please..? I've got something important to tell you."

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Can't you tell me now?"

"No! I will only tell you if you come and get something to eat. You've been down here all day and I bet you've had nothing but coffee."

"Wrong! I ate a banana at eleven thirty three," Seto smirked.

"That's not enough to keep a midget like Yugi alive! Let alone a six feet two beanpole like you." Determination to get his brother to come and eat was etched on his face. "I even asked Chef to make fillet of Wagyu with Foie Gras sauce," he smiled, pouting to ensure he was putting on his best pleading face.

Seto could not help but chuckle. His little brother always had the knack of being able to say or do something that would coax him out of his withdrawn state. Was that what he was these days? Withdrawn!

He could not remember the last time he hit the gym or went outside for a run. Lately it was always rise early, shower, smart suit, Chauffeur driven limousine to the underground car park at Kaiba Corp. HQ and straight into his private elevator leading directly to his office suite on the top floor. He even avoided bumping into employees so that he could focus fully on the business of finding the perfect strategy to beat Yugi. And when the working day was done, he would come home and spend his evenings down here.

His stomach rumbled at the thought of his favourite meal. "Very well Mokuba. You win." He gestured to Mokuba to go up the stairs from the basement first.

They entered the dining room and sat down. The butler came in and offered Seto to try the wine he had chosen that would go nicely with the steak.

Seto took a sip and nodded that it was acceptable. The butler filled Seto's glass. Mokuba scowled in disappointment that he only got offered cola or lemonade.

"You're too young Mokuba," Seto smirked.

"And so are you!"

Seto shrugged. "I'm eighteen and in some countries that is legal. And, anyway, I do what I like because I'm Seto Kaiba." There was a touch of humour in his voice and Mokuba stuck his tongue out, just to be insolent and childish.

Seto did not react. "Anyway Mokuba. What was the important thing you wanted to tell me?"

For a moment Mokuba looked confused; like whatever was so important had been forgotten. And then he remembered. "Oh! Yeah... Tests on the prototype space station went real good and they hope to set a launch date very soon."

"You dragged me away from my work to tell me something I already know?!" Seto raised an eyebrow. "Why not try telling me something I don't know."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "I haven't got to the good part yet," he grinned. "You know you asked me to spy on Yugi for you?"

"I did not ask you to spy," Seto interrupted to correct him. "Since you seem to like them, I merely asked you report back to me anything I might need to know."

Mokuba shrugged. "Whatever... Anyway. You know that really weird storm last month. The one that everyone tried to blame on you, but had nothing to do with Kaiba technology and turned out to be centred around the museum."

Seto narrowed his eyes. "And why should I be interested in that now?" The storm had been on the same night he had that weird dream about Yugi giving him his pendant. In the dream, the other Yugi had been dressed like an Ancient Egyptian King, and was telling Seto that his death meant that Seto was now Pharaoh, before fading away into nothingness. He still did not know if that dream was a product of his desperate desire to replace Yugi as Duel King, or another of those bizarre visions, but he had still made sure to surreptitiously check on Yugi to ensure nothing untoward had happened to him and that he was still in possession of the Puzzle –which thankfully he still was.

Unaware of Seto's dream, Mokuba continued. "Because... well, I went to the game shop this morning. Yugi's mother told me Yugi, his grandfather and his friends, had all gone to Egypt."

Seto gasped. "What?! When?" How had Yugi managed to sneak off without him knowing about it?

"They went four days ago, apparently."

Seto clenched his jaw. It had to have something to do with the Pharaoh Yugi claimed to have living inside him. He needed to know more detail. "Did she say why they had gone?"

"She said it had something to do with that pendant Yugi's grandfather gave him. Did you know? The old man stole it from the Pharaoh's tomb years before Yugi was even born!" Mokuba was chuckling at the thought of the respectable old store keeper robbing tombs.

Seto was growing impatient. Intrigued about how Yugi's family had managed to get their hands on such a priceless artefact, he had looked into the old man's past a long time ago, and was not surprised to see he was once a ruthless, professional gambler and treasure hunter.

"Get to the point Mokuba," he growled.

"Geez Seto!" Mokuba pouted. "I'm just telling you what Mrs Muto told me. She said Yugi's been acting strange ever since he completed the Millennium Puzzle. Keeps talking to himself and sometimes seems different. But when she asks him about it, he says she's imagining things. Anyway, when she was cleaning Yugi's room, she found a bag full of gold items, all with the same eye on them as the Puzzle. Yugi and his grandfather looked a bit guilty at first, but then told her that the Egyptian authorities want them returned. That's why they've gone to Egypt."

"What?! They can't!" Seto felt a sudden pain in his heart.

He clasped at his chest, dropping his crystal wine glass. The glass smashed, spilling red wine all over himself and the white table cloth. The butler immediately ran forward to help but Seto barked at him to get out of the dining room.

"Are you okay Seto?" Mokuba was worried. What little colour Seto had in his complexion had drained away completely.

"How dare he sneak off to Egypt behind my back," Seto hissed.

Any fears Mokuba already had that his brother's obsession with Yugi was getting way out of hand, were being confirmed.

"Look, Seto. I know how badly you want to beat Yugi, and I understand that, but I'm not sure he's sneaking off. My guess is he's gone to visit what was once the Pharaoh's home. His mother said he will be back in a few days." He flinched when Seto glared at him.

"You might think you understand, but you don't. It's like I have a fire of battle burning deep in my soul and the only way to extinguish it is to defeat the Pharaoh in a duel. If Yugi leaves the Puzzle in Egypt, then he will have denied me that chance and the wounds inflicted on me by each defeat I have suffered, will never heal."

Mokuba stood up abruptly. "Stop it Seto! So what if he's taken the Pharaoh to visit his homeland, or whatever. There's no way Yugi would ever want to part with the Puzzle! Without it, he's nobody! As soon as he returns, we can announce the battle of elite duelists, and put your plan to beat the Pharaoh into action." He let out a sigh of frustration. "And then perhaps I can have my real brother back," he added, petulantly.

"It's no longer that simple Mokuba, Whatever you like to believe about Yugi and his alter ego, I have this terrible feeling that Yugi going to Egypt can only mean one thing. They are returning the Puzzle to it's resting place, and with it, the Pharaoh."

"But that makes no sense," Mokuba answered, feeling confused. "Yugi and his friends are close to the Pharaoh. Why would they want to send him away?"

Seto banged his fist on the table. "They may not have any choice! Something Ishizu said about destiny, and the dead having a place to go to. I dismissed it as mumbo jumbo ramblings, but it was all real."

"But I thought you said it was all bullshit! Ghosts don't exist. You said that Yugi saying he was a Pharaoh is just him trying to sound important, and that his other Self is just his imaginary friend."

Seto put his hands to his face and sighed. "I only said that because I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that I was somehow connected to the same past as Yugi."

Mokuba was silent for a moment. "But... I thought... All this that you're doing; trying to find a deck to beat the other Yugi –the strong one. Does it really matter which one you beat? I always thought they fought together."

"I have to beat the Pharaoh. If Yugi sends him back to wherever it is he is thinks he belongs, then I will never get my chance of revenge and these invisible wounds will continue to sting."

"B..but!" Mokuba stuttered. "If he has gone, you can always challenge ordinary Yugi." Mokuba imagined he would be easier to beat than the other Yugi. Seto would be King and his wounds would heal.

Seto glared at him. "That. Will. Not. Do," he hissed, through gritted teeth. "It's the Pharaoh I want. He is the one I want to beat. Not ordinary, weak little Yugi Muto." He stood up, pushing his chair back with so much force it clattered over onto the polished wood floor. "I'm going to my quarters. No one is to disturb me. Not even you Mokuba."


	2. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter explores the thoughts of Yugi and his friends as they fly home from Egypt after saying goodbye to Atem.

It felt strange without the Millennium Puzzle resting against his chest. The bulky object might have appeared heavy to other people, but it was never a burden for Yugi to wear.

During the flight home from Egypt, he kept touching his chest, wishing the Puzzle might magically return. But it was gone –Atem was gone.

Yugi was still not sure how he felt about that. It all happened so quickly. So quickly, in fact, that none of them had really been given enough time to say a proper goodbye to their friend.

The Ceremonial Duel itself had all been so surreal. And despite knowing the possible consequences, they had all gone along with it. Yugi knew deep down what would happen, but had still been determined to win. And when he finally did win, his his victory had left him so stunned that he collapsed to his knees. His heart and lungs felt utterly crushed. He did not know what to say, except that he was sorry. And in those final moments, all he was capable of doing, was watch through tear glazed eyes, as Atem walked purposefully through those doors and into the brilliant golden light.

When the doors closed, leaving them all standing there, in the dank, musty gloom of the temple, staring at the spot where Atem had stood only moments ago, it finally occurred to Yugi that he should have spoken up. Not telling Atem how grateful he was to have known him, and how much he meant to him, was something Yugi was going to regret for a long time –possibly forever.

But despite his sadness at losing such a close friend, Yugi now felt a sense of acceptance over Atem's departure.

Maybe it was because Atem had accepted his destiny so easily, that Yugi also felt the need to do the same. Atem was ready to go. It would have selfish to keep him here much longer.

Since the very first day he solved the Puzzle, releasing Atem's spirit and merging their souls, their relationship had constantly been evolving. It had taken a little bit of time to fully trust each other, but once they had forged their bond, they had seemed inseparable.

However, after Atem re-gained his memories, things had become different. It was hard to explain, but Yugi felt there was now an awkward distance between them.

They were no longer two sides of the same coin, feeding off one another in perfect harmony, but two distinctive individuals, both with strong personalities, sharing one body – one that Yugi had ultimate control over.

Yugi wished it was not awkward. He had tried to reassure him that sharing a body was not a problem. He didn't mind. They were like twin brothers and always would be.

Atem did not say much, but Yugi was still worried about him. There was something bothering Atem and he wanted to help. But Atem kept trying to avoid him and started spending more and more time hidden inside his soul room.

Yugi had peeked into his room. It was no longer a confusing maze of stairs and doors, but a chambers fit for a King.

"You like my new room Aibou?!" As always, Atem crept up on him from nowhere and Yugi had jumped out of his skin.

But in this more relaxed environment, Atem admitted that his reluctance to talk had nothing to do with having to do with sharing a body, but more to do with what he had learned about his life... and death.

Looking back, Yugi wished he had taken advantage of this rare opportunity to discuss their feelings and talked more openly about the possibility of him leaving this world for the next world. But the subject of death was not something either of them wanted to dwell on, so Yugi shrugged and apologised for disturbing him, saying that he actually came to say that Ishizu had arranged a date for them to go to Egypt.

Atem thanked him and Yugi said goodnight and left, They did not discuss it again; both of them knowing deep down that their time together might soon be over.

And now it was.

He let out an inward sigh of regret and disguised it outwardly as a yawn.

::::::::::::

Sitting next to him, Anzu was going through a whole set of emotions of her own. She thought she had it all figured out, but now she was unsure how she was feeling about losing the part of Yugi that had caused her to fall in love with him in the first place.

No! She should not be thinking that.

Atem had been a long dead spirit from inside the Puzzle. He was not an extension of Yugi's soul. He had found out who he really was and had now passed on to take his place in paradise. He even looked happy, giving the thumbs up as he stepped into the light.

She was okay with that, really she was. It was how it was meant to be and she was relieved that after three thousand years it had all gone the way the Gods had planned.

Yes, she was sad he had to go, but not as heartbroken as she thought she might otherwise have been. In fact, she was more heartbroken for Yugi. He had shown such great strength and courage in beating Atem. But the reward for his victory was to send away a friend he loved so dearly and looked to as a brother and role model.

Would her love be enough to replace what Yugi had lost?

She remembered back to the time she first became aware that Yugi had another side to his personality. At first, he was her superhero, and when she discovered her superhero was Yugi she could not have been more delighted.

Her behaviour had been questionable though.

Wanting to see Yugi's other side had been no excuse for putting herself and others in danger.

She and both Yugi's might have put her actions aside as an awkward topic, never to be discussed, but she felt foolish now for her behaviour.

The realisation, at Duelist Kingdom, that the other Yugi was not actually Yugi, but was a long dead spirit from inside the Puzzle, only served to confuse her feelings further.

She had even thought she could have the best of them both! Until that night on the clifftop, when Yugi revealed his wounded feelings over her attraction to his other Self.

That was probably the moment when her feelings for the boy she had known since they were five started to develop into something more romantic.

She heard him yawn and could not resist a glance out of the corner of her eye at him in the passenger seat next to her. Her heart gave a little flutter, unnerving her. It was true, she did love him for who he was.

She wanted to look away, but was caught by his lovely long eye lashes.

Any hope she had that he would not notice her studying him were dashed when he turned to meet her gaze. Why was she looking at him like that?

They both blushed.

"You okay Yugi?" She said, for want of something to say, and whispering so as not to wake Yugi's grandfather asleep in the window seat.

Yugi muttered that he was fine, but a light shrug of the shoulders told her that he was not all that fine. "How about you?" He said quietly in return.

"I'm Okay, I guess. Tired. Be glad when we're home." She stifled a yawn and smiled sheepishly.

He checked his watch. "Another hour and we should be landing," he said, smiling at her so softly it made her heart jump.

"Hmm," she nodded, shifting in her seat so that she could lean over and snuggle against his shoulder. "In the meantime, you can be my pillow."

Resisting the temptation to kiss her soft hair, he let his cheek rest against her head and placed one of his hands over the hand she was resting on the armrest between their seats. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

He smiled to himself when he felt her turn her palm upwards and curl her fingers around his, giving a little gesture of reassurance in return. The unspoken sadness filling the air around them, comforted by a simple gesture of touch.

Knowing that Anzu was here for him meant a lot –all his friends meant a lot right now.

::::::::::::

Sitting just across from Yugi and Anzu, in the seat on the end of the middle aisle, Jonouchi was restless. As someone who always needed to be doing something, he found long flights tedious.

But although he was restless, he also felt exhausted, and that just served to make him all the more fidgety.

He tried to sleep but was unable to. Every time he closed his eyes he would start re-living the moment Atem walked through those doors, leaving Yugi behind –leaving them all behind.

What the heck did they all do now?! They had fought against pure evil, saved the world a few times, helped an Egyptian Pharaoh -who just happened to live inside his best friend- find his name, and kill the biggest, ugliest fucking monster Jonouchi had ever laid eyes on.

You could not just go back to being a normal civilian after all of that! Could you?

Because of his own heroic efforts, his expectations of himself had grown. He was worth more than the gutter now and he had Yugi and Atem to thank for that.

But despite the part he played in saving the world, he still needed to keep growing as a person, and definitely not revert back to his old ways. The idea of life in a Yakuza gang frightened him now, and the best way for him to stay out of that shit, was to be a decent guy and a good friend.

The all lost someone they loved yesterday, but out of all of them, Yugi had been closest to Atem.

So far, his little buddy seemed to be holding up pretty well, but who knew what might be going on inside that spiky head of his? Yugi had always been good at hiding his feelings and pretending he was okay, by putting up a positive front; a legacy of all the bullying he had suffered, much of it at Jonouchi's own hands.

He owed Yugi big time, and was gonna make damned sure he was there whenever Yugi needed a friend.

And what about Anzu?

She was right when she said it wasn't fair that Atem had to leave, but Jonouchi was still unsure of her intentions. If he had not grabbed her, holding her back, would she have been prepared to run into the light chasing after him?

Or was she going to try and stop him leaving by confessing her love?

Either way, it would have broken Yugi's heart.

He glanced across the aisle in their direction. They were talking, but their voices were too hushed for him to hear what they were saying.

Now she was cuddling up to him all smoochy like, and Yugi was smiling contentedly, with his eyes closed, and was holding her hand as he rubbed his cheek against her head.

Jonouchi wondered if they were both on the rebound from losing Atem. Easing their grief by showing each other affection, was good, right?

"Psst..!" He nudged his sleeping friend, with the result that Honda's head lolled over and came to rest on Jonouchi's shoulder.

Honda made a contented humming noise, hugged Jonouchi's arm, smacked his lips and then drooled on Jonouchi's tee-shirt. "Shizuuuuukaaa..." he murmured, much to Jonouchi's horror.

A sharp dig to Honda's ribs with his elbow was enough to jolt his sleeping friend from his dirty little fantasy.

"What the!" Honda's head snapped up and he made a repulsed face when he realised he had been dreaming about Shizuka while cuddling up to her brother!

Scowling, Honda rubbed his ribs as he sat up straight. He was about to reprimand Jonouchi for having sharp elbows, but closed his mouth when he saw his friend gesturing across the isle at Yugi and Anzu.

He leaned forward to look but Jonouchi pushed him back into his seat.

"Don't make it obvious we're watching them, moron," he mouthed.

Honda rolled his eyes. "How am I meant to know if I don't look, idiot?" He whispered.

"I dunno. Be more discreet or something." Trying not to appear obvious, the pair glanced across at Yugi and Anzu. "See what I mean? She's cuddling up to him."

"So what?!" Honda shrugged. "I always suspected they were more than just friends anyway. Hopefully it's helping to make losing Atem a bit easier."

Jonouchi rolled his eyes. "That's what worries me!" He emphasised. "You must've seen Anzu's reaction to the Pharaoh leaving, yeah? Well, I'm worried she might be using Yugi as a substitute."

Honda sighed, then thought about it for a second before coming to his own conclusion. "Whatever is going on, it's not our business to interfere. Yugi's proved himself to be every bit as strong as Atem, and I think that's what Anzu always wanted. We have to let them work it out for themselves."

"You're probably right." Jonouchi chewed his lip for a moment. "The next few weeks are gonna be tough without Atem."

"Yeah..." He sighed reflectively. "But we'll get through it. Just gotta stick together."

Instinctively, the pair gazed at their hands where Anzu had once drawn the smiley face. The ink had long since been washed away, but if Jonouchi squinted hard enough, he could still imagine it was there, bold as the day it was first etched.

They might have just lost a friend, but he would never be forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed.  
> The final part will be posted in a day or two.


	3. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yugi arrives hone to find an angry Seto Kaiba waiting for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably warn that there are one or two swearwords in this chapter

Having lost the ability to see the future, Ishizu had not been expecting a call from Seto Kaiba, although, in hindsight, she perhaps should have.

He wanted, or rather, he demanded to know what Yugi was doing in Egypt.

However, when she explained, quite eloquently, how Yugi had fulfilled his destiny to return the Millennium items to their place of origin, and helped the Pharaoh take his place among his forefathers in the afterlife, by winning the Ceremonial Duel, he became furious, angrily accusing her of manipulating them with her endless prophecies, by putting ridiculous ideas about destiny and fate into Yugi and his friends heads.

Apparently, it was her fault for making Yugi send the Pharaoh away, which made her feel even worse about being the one to carry the Tomb Keepers burden of guiding Yugi and the Pharaoh, ensuring the fulfilment of their destiny – a destiny forced on everyone involved by the selfish actions of their ancestors.

Watching the Pharaoh walk stoically through those doors had been so heartbreaking to witness. She should could not begin to imagine how Yugi and his friends must be feeling.

Her initial surprise that Seto was feeling so grieved, cheated and angry about the fact that he had not been invited to the 'send-off' as he put it, started turning into guilt, when she realised that even though he would rather pretend he did not give a damn about any of it, he did in fact, care a lot.

"I'm coming to Egypt. I want to see the tomb, or temple, or whatever you call it, for myself!" He said, forcefully.

"I am afraid that will not be possible," she tried to explain. "The temple containing the stone tablet collapsed and the items have been swallowed by the desert."

"I don't care how deeply the temple is buried. Tell me where it is?" He demanded.

"I'm afraid I cannot disclose it's location. All I will say, is that it is in an area closed off to the public." She felt bad for him. But he had always made it abundantly clear that he did not believe in destiny, or his connection to the past. What had triggered his change in attitude?

"I don't buy that for one minute Ishizu. If you won't help me, I will find someone who will." That errant brother of hers struck her as the sort of person who could easily be bribed.

"I am sorry Seto. I cannot help you. My brothers and I are leaving Egypt very soon to start a fresh life in California. I will be lecturing at the University there." It had been with a heavy heart that she had resigned her job in Egypt, but with the Tomb Keepers role now ended, new challenges and new opportunities lay ahead.

Seto huffed. "I might have guessed I would get no help from you."

"Please, don't do anything rash Seto. Atem is gone, and so too are the Millennium Items. It would be unwise to disturb them. But if you are ever in California, please do not hesitate to visit us. You will be made most welcome."

He did not respond to the invite and merely said "goodbye." He hung up without giving her a chance to say anything else. It did not really matter that she was not going to help him anyway –he was already formulating a new plan.

Didn't she just say that Yugi had duelled? That meant he would have activated his duel disk. In order to function, every duel disk needed to connect to the duel server via the nearest satellite. All Seto had to do was check the data stored on his duel server and he would have the exact location of the duel.

Once he had this information, it would be easy to find a team of archaeologists who were desperate for funding, and also desperate to make a name for themselves. He would then bribe whoever needed to be bribed for access to the site, and dig until he found Yugi's Millennium Puzzle.

::::::::::::

After clearing through customs, Yugi and his friends took the train home from the airport.

They were all feeling exhausted and were relived to be back in Domino.

Otogi lived within five minutes walk of the station, so it was just a short walk home for him.

Since she owed him a favour for the number of times he had been asked to babysit Joji, Honda asked his sister to pick him and Jonouchi up. She grumbled, but agreed.

Anzu had called her father the moment they left the airport, and he was already waiting outside the station for her. Since Yugi and his grandfather lived not far from their house, her father was happy to take them home as well.

Sat in the back of the car, Yugi and Anzu were fairly quiet as they listened to Yugi's grandfather telling Mister Mazaki about their trip.

Anzu was relieved not to have to answer any of her dad's questions. And Yugi's grandfather seemed to spin a great yarn, without a single mention of why they had really been in Egypt.

When Yugi's grandfather said they had visited a tomb he had once helped to excavate, belonging to an unknown Pharaoh who's name had only just been discovered, Yugi gave Anzu a little look and they both shared a sad smile.

It was the first time in over three thousand years that anyone had said Atem's name out loud in friendly conversation, to anyone other than their close knit group of friends, and hearing it gave them both a tingling sensation in their spines.

Arriving outside the Kame Game, Yugi went to get out of the car. "Wait up! I will walk to the door with you Yugi," Anzu said, opening the door on her side to get out.

"Thanks," he smiled at her, heart fluttering. It would save him from having to say anything that might make him feel awkward in front of Anzu's father.

From inside the car, Mister Mazaki popped the latch on the boot of the car and it swung open automatically for them to retrieve their cases.

As he lifted his case out, Yugi did not see the silver/blue limo parked opposite.

Seto Kaiba got out of his limousine and marched across the street towards his target. He could already see that Yugi was not wearing the Puzzle and it made his blood rage through his veins.

As soon as he was close enough, he confronted his rival. "What have you done Yugi? Where's the Pharaoh?" His voice was trembling with anger and hurt. Part of him hoped that Yugi would say the Pharaoh was 'right here' and touch his chest where the Puzzle usually rested, but there was no escaping the part of him that already knew the Pharaoh was gone.

Yugi flinched. "Kaiba?! I.. I.." He did not know how to explain. Luckily his grandfather stepped in.

"How dare you come here and shout at my Yugi like that!" Kaiba was a rude young man and Sugoroku did not like him – especially after the terrible things he had done. Yugi might have forgiven him, but he certainly could never forgive him. "Can't you see we are all grieving? Atem has left us to take his place in paradise so you should show some respect!"

Atem! Was that the Pharaoh's name?

Taken aback, Seto clenched his teeth to stop his jaw trembling. His heart hurt and he was struggling to hold back tears of anger and frustration.

"Kaiba... I didn't know you felt that way. I would..." Yugi began, but Seto spun on him making him stop mid sentence. He could not let Yugi know he was hurt and upset. Attack was the best defence.

"You know nothing of what I feel Yugi," he spat.

Protective of Yugi, Anzu stepped in front of Kaiba. "Leave Yugi alone Kaiba!" she pleaded. "Can't you see it's not a good time? We've just come home after a long, exhausting journey and we said goodbye to Atem and..." Yugi placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from continuing. His rival needed an explanation from him and no one else.

"I need to tell you something Kaiba. But not out here. Can you come inside for a moment?" He hoped that by speaking calmly, even though he felt anything but calm right now, Kaiba might back off and be less aggressive.

Seto scowled at him and snorted a long, strained breath out through his nose. "Very well."

Yugi's grandfather unlocked the door to the shop and gestured for them to enter.

"Would you like me to stay with you Yugi?" He asked, worried that Kaiba might hurt Yugi. But Yugi shook his head.

"It's okay Grandpa. Anzu. If you don't mind, I'd like to speak to Kaiba alone."

Sugoroku hesitated before nodding. "You can go through to the back of the store. I will be here if you need me." He made sure to fix Seto with a 'just remember you're on my property, boy!' Glare.

Anzu stayed close to Yugi. "Do you want me to stay too?" She asked, tentatively. Yugi was still grieving and was not at his strongest right now, and she feared Kaiba's accusatory stance might be too much for him to deal with emotionally. He was probably in no fit state to duel if Kaiba challenged him.

Yugi rested his hand on her arm and rubbed it gently. Even if he was not feeling it right now, he did his best to appear in full control of the situation. "I will be fine Anzu. Your dad's outside, you shouldn't keep him waiting. I will ring you later. Okay?"

"Okay," She nodded pursing her lips to stop her jaw trembling. She was doing her utmost to hold in the emotional outpouring that she did not want anyone to witness.

But studying her as closely as he was, Yugi noticed how watery her eyes were.

"Hey! It's gonna be okay," he said softly enough to weaken her knees. Smiling sadly, he gently touched her face with the tips of his fingers, using his thumb to wipe away the little tear that had decided to start trickling from the corner of her eye. He wanted to cry too, but life had to go on, regardless.

Her reaction was to throw her arms round him and hug him tightly.

"Oh.. Yugi." He had said goodbye to Atem and was now about to face the Wrath of Kaiba. Yet, just as Atem had always been, he was so stoic.

Not impressed at their affectionate little display, Seto cleared his throat Impatiently, reminding them he was still waiting.

The couple parted. Anzu regained her composure and gave an awkward little wave as she hesitantly left the store. She wanted to stay –maybe she would ask her father to wait for a bit and she would come back inside.

Gesturing for Seto to follow him, Yugi showed him to the room in the rear of the shop. It looked to Seto like it had been recently re-decorated to make it more comfortable. The paint still smelled fresh and a new table and chairs was set up under the window. But Yugi did not offer him to sit down at the table. Instead, looking up at his rival, he folded his arms and stood tall so as not to appear weak and inferior.

He's trying to mimic the Pharaoh, Seto thought, with a sneer. Yugi ignored the attempted intimidation.

"What did you want to know Kaiba?" He knew he needed to stay in control of the situation.

"Why wasn't I invited to Egypt?" Seto could not keep the emotional pain from his voice, but surprisingly he did not care.

In response, Yugi's stance softened. Was his rival genuinely upset?!

"I'm sorry Kaiba," he answered, apologetically. "I didn't know you felt so strongly. If I had, I would have... but I wasn't sure how to reach you and... you made it clear you didn't want anything to do with the past."

"Don't give me that shit Yugi. You know how to contact me. You have Mokuba's phone number! All you needed to do was let him know so that I at least had an option to be there."

Yugi's face flushed. Mokuba had said he did not want his brother to know he was friends with them. That was obviously not the case.

"What I don't understand is why you let him go?" Seto continued. "You and he were a powerful team. Without him, you're as good as worthless."

Ouch! That hurt and Yugi flinched. "I had no choice Kaiba," he said quietly, trying not to look at the floor and shrink into himself. "After Battle City, we faced a demon from his past, that almost destroyed the world. It would have if Atem hadn't... We found his name and he got his memories back. Ishizu said –or rather, the prophecy said, that we needed to face a final duel, and our worth would be judged before the Gods."

Ishizu had said Yugi duelled him. But how?! Without a duel simulator that was impossible. And the only simulator's were in Kaiba Land and his laboratory.

Was it possible that both Yugi's fought together and faced...?

The only other duelist in Yugi's little friendship group was Jonouch. The horrific thought that the Mutt had been the one to be given the honour, was too much for Seto to bear.

Unable to control his temper, he grabbed Yugi by the collar and almost pulled him off his feet.

"I'm his rival," he snarled in Yugi's face. "It should have been me, not that worthless cretin Jonouchi." He had not thought to check the data from the Mutt's duel disk to see if had been used recently.

"Wh.. what?! Yugi winced, gripping Seto's wrists and digging his fingers in hard to make him let go. It worked and Seto shoved him away.

But Yugi did not fall to the ground as he once would have, and instead brushed himself off and stood his ground. Heartbreak at sending Atem away was starting to turn into rage and he was going to dam well stand up to Kaiba. "Jonouchi wasn't the one to duel him. It was me."

Seto gasped. "But how?! You only have one body!" Confused.

"Magic. Magic that you don't believe in." His comment made Seto want to scowl but he kept his face neutral.

Satisfied Seto was not going to call it bullshit, Yugi continued. "Ishizu took us to the temple at Kul-Elna. Inside there's, or was, a large stone tablet set in front of a carved doorway leading to a place Egyptians called the underworld. I placed the Millennium Items in their respective slots and a bright light shone from the doors, splitting Atem and me into ourselves. We then faced each other in a Ceremonial Duel and...well..." he could feel himself fighting back his emotions and it was all he could do to force out the words. "I won. I defeated him so he left."

Seto stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. After a moment, he found his voice. "You won?!" He said, incredulously. "Why? All you needed to do is lose and he could have stayed."

"You have no idea how hard it was to let him go, but I didn't have a choice Kaiba. He.. Atem, completed the tasks given to him by the Egyptian Gods and he... he was meant to leave. All I had to do was prove that I was ready to take his place as King."

Seto could see that Yugi was sad. Empathy took hold and Seto's fury subsided. His demeanour softened. But he was still Seto Kaiba, and while he might empathise, he did not feel any respect. "Everyone has a choice Yugi. It's us who decide what we want, not a bunch of obsolete Gods. You should have demanded that he stay long enough for me to duel and beat him."

That was a selfish thing to say, but Seto was not about to take it back and it was Yugi who apologised anyway!

"I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to duel him one last time Kaiba. Really I am. But he's gone now. And as hard as that is, we've got to accept it and move on. Perhaps you and I might even duel each other again one day. But right now, I'm tired. I would like to be alone."

For some reason, Seto felt he should give Yugi some space, for now. Maybe it was because he could see genuine grief and loss in Yugi's eyes. Still, whatever Yugi was feeling, he was not about to give way to sympathetic sentiment. "Don't think this is over Yugi," he growled, turning to leave.

Giving no explanation as to what he was planning, for fear that Yugi may try to stop him, he swept out of the Game store and stormed over to his waiting limo.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Yugi wandered back out to the front of shop. He was not surprised to see Anzu still there. She hurried over to make sure he was okay.

"Yugi!" She was relieved to see he appeared unhurt, although his shirt collar was slightly torn.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," he said, noting her concern. "He was just a bit upset because we didn't invite him to the Ceremonial Duel."

"A bit upset?!" She shrieked, hurt and angry. She could not understand how Yugi was not angry as well.

"You heard us talking?" He already knew that voices at a normal level could be heard from the shop if it was quiet, let alone if the voices were raised. He looked between Anzu and Grandpa.

"Yes, Yugi. We heard perfectly well." Sugoroku was irate. "He had no right to speak to you like that!"

"He's so selfish, it makes my blood boil," Anzu seethed. "It's like he doesn't even care how you might be feeling."

But Yugi calmly held his hand up. "Oh, believe me, I'm angry and upset alright. But there's no point in letting Kaiba get to us. Anyway, I can understand how he feels. I know he always tries to deny his connection to the past, but I think he feels more than we assume. I should have given him the chance to come to Egypt."

Anzu huffed. "All he would've done is complain and say it was all nonsense."

Yugi let out a long sigh. "That's because he finds it hard to accept things that he's not in control of. But, whatever his problem, he still played his part in bringing the God cards and the Millennium items together."

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Only because he wanted the cards for himself," she huffed.

"You're probably right, but still... he did the right thing when it really mattered. And what's done is done –I can't change that he wasn't there to see Atem leave. I guess he will just have to try and deal with it and move on. Maybe once he's calmed down, he will understand."

"I hope you're right. I wouldn't put it past him to try something stupid," Anzu huffed.

Yugi snorted. "Don't worry. I'll deal with him if he does," he winked at her, making her chuckle.

He was the one who had lost the most, yet Yugi was handling his loss, Kaiba's grievances and her petulance so calmly and rationally. She knew Yugi was hurting so badly inside, because she certainly was. She just wished he would let his grief show. They could let their grief out together, and hold each other tightly until that grief subsided.

Instead, she knew they would both go and lock themselves in their respective bedrooms and cry into a pillow alone.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I had better not keep my dad waiting any longer. See you tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Tomorrow."

::::::::::::

After a nice soak in the bath, Yugi tried to catch up on some the school work they had missed, before giving up and going to bed.

As he settled down, he noted the small scratch marks on the bed post. They were a reminder of where the Puzzle used to hang.

He was glad he kept the Puzzle box as a memento though. It had pride of place on his desk and sparkled in the moonlight that was drifting in through the skylight.

He lay down on his back with his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He was tired but his mind was too active for him to sleep.

Without Atem, Kaiba did not see him as a worthy rival.

The insensitive way Kaiba had barged in and spoken to him had upset him more than he care to admit.

But even though Kaiba was the aggressor, Yugi was the one feeling guilty.

Sighing, he rolled onto his side and stared at the empty chair by his desk. He remembered how Atem would sit there every night. They would mostly chat about duel strategies and their friends. Sometimes they would chat about random stuff that had happened that day. Yugi would fall asleep and Atem's spirit would go back inside the Puzzle until morning.

He wished he was here now. He wondered what he would say about Kaiba's attitude. He certainly would not be happy about him calling Yugi as good as worthless, that was for sure. In fact, he would probably have a few sharp words to say to Kaiba about it, and then challenge him to a duel –rivals to the bitter end.

If Kaiba had been at the ceremonial Duel, would it have made a difference? Probably not.

But it was over now, and Kaiba would have to move on from the loss of his rival, just as Yugi was trying to move on.

He had not realised he was crying until his face and pillow was all wet. In the privacy of his own room, it was okay to let his grief out.

Sniffing, he wiped away his tears with the sleeve of his pyjamas and turned his pillows over to the dry side and went to sleep.

::::::::::::

Having avoided all radar detection, Seto slowly flew his Blue Eyes Stealth Jet over the Valley of The Kings.

With the latest sonar equipment he had on board, it was not difficult to penetrate the ground and see the exact spot where Yugi had buried the Puzzle.

A temple, not far from the Valley of The Kings, that had never been open to the public.

A temple, heavily guarded by Tomb Keepers who reported only to Ishizu.

A temple, that had recently been swallowed by the desert, but hushed up by the authorities.

The temple was about a mile over the hill, in the middle of a once thriving village known as Kul-Elna.

According to the history data that popped up on his screen, the village had been populated by the people who dug the tombs. But they had then turned to robbing the very tombs they had once worked on and knew inside and out. Rumour was, the priests of Karnak had themselves sanctioned the robbing of the tombs, using the thieves as scapegoats should anyone get caught.

The village was the perfect candidate to be destroyed by a high priest known as Aknadin, in return for the Millennium Items. The man was his ancestor's father. How did he know that? He had no idea, he just did.

That three thousand year old act of violence was what had started this fucking mess in the first place. Yugi might think he had ended it and given all those poor souls some peace, but for Seto, it would not end until his own soul was satisfied.

It would not end until he had brought the Pharaoh back for one more duel.

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm assuming that everyone reading this has seen Dark Side of Dimensions, or at least, knows that Kaiba sends a team to dig up the Millennium Puzzle because he thinks it will bring the Pharaoh back.
> 
> Anyway, until my next story! Adios.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I managed to portray Seto's obsession and desperate desire to beat Yugi and be the King of Games adequately. Please let me have your thoughts.
> 
> Part two will be posted tomorrow.


End file.
